Some 30 years ago I was invited by a fellow that worked with my wife to go deer hunting.
He was a strange fellow but he had a spot on a high fence place close to the Angelina river that I could have only dreamed of hunting. This was years before high fences became popular and was the only one I had ever heard of so I jumped at the chance.
I picked him up in Longview and we rode down together. He complained that all his friends and family would not hunt with him and he was excited to have someone to hunt with.
He told me I could shoot any deer on the place. To say I was happy is an understatement. He had never killed a deer ever so we spend the first afternoon scouting and hanging stands.
That night he changed his mind several time.
Any deer turned into any buck with at least 10 points and 20” wide. That turned into well maybe you should just shoot a doe. Then back to buck only then back to a doe but it needed to be a big one.
I figured out he really didn’t want me to shoot anything at all.
The next morning broke clear and crisp, just a perfect winter morning. I had a doe at 12 yards but let down without turning the arrow loose as I knew he didn’t really want me shooting anything.
Squirrels were running everywhere and after excepting the fact I really shouldn’t shoot one of his deer I decided to go to work on the Cat squirrels.
I can only suppose that no one had bothered them for years. I could ease up close to them and they would jump up on the base of an oak and just bark at me. Two hours later I had killed my limit of 10 and went to pick up my new buddy.
He was nervous when He asked if I had killed a deer and obviously relieved when I told him no.
When we got back to the ranch house I unloaded my pack on the porch and piled up my 10 squirrels. He lost his mind.
He ranted a raved, ran back and forth up and down the porch gripping about how dumb I was to get a chance to hunt his place and then screw up the whole 5000 acres by shooting squirrels.
They had an elderly black man hired as a cook. As the guy was bitching, I heard the cook say “That boy killed 10 squirrels with a bow”. The fellow kept raising hell and the old man said “But that boy killed 10 squirrels with a recurve bow”.
The old man helped me skin out the squirrels and in the end I gave them all to him.
When I let my new found friend off that afternoon he gave me a stern look and told me “ stay your butt in the stand but don’t shoot anything less than a 12 point with a 24” spread.
I smiled and said “Yes Sir”
I promptly left the and drove back home. This was years before cell phones and to this day, I have no ideal home he got back to Longview.
I have been searching for a lease for next year and I will find out February 1 if I can get a spot on this very same ranch. I had forgotten all about this old trip until I figured out it was the same place I had hunted 30 years ago.

We didn't have phones to take pictures back then so here is a picture to show I still don't have enough since to not shoot at the squirrels

Some 30 years ago I was invited by a fellow that worked with my wife to go deer hunting.
He was a strange fellow but he had a spot on a high fence place close to the Angelina river that I could have only dreamed of hunting. This was years before high fences became popular and was the only one I had ever heard of so I jumped at the chance.
I picked him up in Longview and we rode down together. He complained that all his friends and family would not hunt with him and he was excited to have someone to hunt with.
He told me I could shoot any deer on the place. To say I was happy is an understatement. He had never killed a deer ever so we spend the first afternoon scouting and hanging stands.
That night he changed his mind several time.
Any deer turned into any buck with at least 10 points and 20” wide. That turned into well maybe you should just shoot a doe. Then back to buck only then back to a doe but it needed to be a big one.
I figured out he really didn’t want me to shoot anything at all.
The next morning broke clear and crisp, just a perfect winter morning. I had a doe at 12 yards but let down without turning the arrow loose as I knew he didn’t really want me shooting anything.
Squirrels were running everywhere and after excepting the fact I really shouldn’t shoot one of his deer I decided to go to work on the Cat squirrels.
I can only suppose that no one had bothered them for years. I could ease up close to them and they would jump up on the base of an oak and just bark at me. Two hours later I had killed my limit of 10 and went to pick up my new buddy.
He was nervous when He asked if I had killed a deer and obviously relieved when I told him no.
When we got back to the ranch house I unloaded my pack on the porch and piled up my 10 squirrels. He lost his mind.
He ranted a raved, ran back and forth up and down the porch gripping about how dumb I was to get a chance to hunt his place and then screw up the whole 5000 acres by shooting squirrels.
They had an elderly black man hired as a cook. As the guy was bitching, I heard the cook say “That boy killed 10 squirrels with a bow”. The fellow kept raising hell and the old man said “But that boy killed 10 squirrels with a recurve bow”.
The old man helped me skin out the squirrels and in the end I gave them all to him.
When I let my new found friend off that afternoon he gave me a stern look and told me “ stay your butt in the stand but don’t shoot anything less than a 12 point with a 24” spread.
I smiled and said “Yes Sir”
I promptly left the and drove back home. This was years before cell phones and to this day, I have no ideal home he got back to Longview.
I have been searching for a lease for next year and I will find out February 1 if I can get a spot on this very same ranch. I had forgotten all about this old trip until I figured out it was the same place I had hunted 30 years ago.

We didn't have phones to take pictures back then so here is a picture to show I still don't have enough since to not shoot at the squirrels Attachment 892027

That is an excellent story buff and best of luck on your new potential lease

Great story ! I squirrel hunted once on the Angelina by invitation and there was a lot of cat squirrels there. I was hunting with an old Winchester '97 that I had picked up when I was in ND working. Always loved those old guns and had never shot it before that hunt, but it had a full choke and a 30" barrel so....squirrel gun, right ? I missed more squirrels than I hit that morning and couldn't believe it. After we gathered back up at camp I walked over to the river bank, picked out a mud ball about thirty yards away, and squeezed of a shot like I was shooting a rifle. About a foot to foot and a half low ! No wonder !

I sold or traded that gun and ever since wished I had sent the sucker to Briley and had the barrel straightened, but at that time I had never heard of them or even if they were in existence.